1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for gathering and lifting leaves and other loose debris. Specifically, the present invention employs a pair of concave shaped leaf scoops that are movably secured together via their handles so that the leaf scoops articulate in opposing fashion and are provided with a central handle at the junction where they are movably secured together. The central handle aids the user in lifting the leaves when they are grasped between the heads of the leaf scoops. The device may include a central handle that is one of a variety of different types of handles.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the fall of the year, homeowners and owners of commercial property on which trees are located must gather together and dispose of the large volume of leaves and other loose debris that falls to the ground from the trees.
Leaves may be gathered by using leaf scoops, leaf blowers or power lawn mowers equipped with bags. Once the leaves have been gathered, property owners must lift the leaves for in order to remove them from the property or to transport them to a compost bin. Alternately, to avoid lifting, leaves may be burned in place. Leaf blowers and lawn mowers create air pollution, and for this reason, their use has been banned in some communities. Also, open burning of leaves has been banned in some communities due to fire hazards, air pollution and ozone damage caused by this practice. Thus, manually raking leaves remains the best environmental solution for gathering leaves.
Gathered leaves are typically lifted by bending over and picking up small quantities by hand. Another method is to scoop the pile of leaves onto a blanket or tarpaulin, then stoop down to lift the corners of the blanket or tarpaulin and finally dragging or lifting the leaves and the blanket or tarpaulin in order to move the leaves to a trash receptacle, compost pit or other disposal area.
A person may employ a specially designed plastic ramp which inserts into the mouth of a trash bag, allowing the user to scoop leaves into the trash bag when the bag is placed horizontally on the ground. The bag and leaves must then be lifted to transport them. Various other devices have been created for transporting leaves, also. One such device simply drills holes in the handles of two conventional leaf rakes, and inserts a bolt through the holes so that the two opposing leaf rakes are able to move in opposition to each other, similar to the action of a large pair of salad thongs, in order to capture leaves between the rake heads and lift them so they can be placed in a bag for disposal.
These types of devices lack a handle at a critical location on the device, such as at the junction of the rakes, this causing the user to repeatedly bend over, stoop down and lift the leaves in an awkward way that exerts a great deal of strain on the user's back. If the user has large volumes of leaves to transport, he may end up with strained or pulled back muscles before the job is completed
Also, the heads of standard or conventional leaf rakes are not designed to lift, but rather are designed to rake. And the open construction of most conventional leaf rakes, i.e. constructed of tines, slats or spaced apart teeth, prevents them from holding leaves between the rake heads as the leaves are lifted after the leaves have been captured between the opposing rake heads.
The present invention addresses these problems by providing a device that includes a pair of leaf scoops with specially designed concave heads for capturing and holding leaves therebetween as the leaves are lifted and transported. The present invention is also provided with a junction for movably securing the two leaf scoops together. This junction includes a handle that permits the user to stand upright and easily lift large, heavy masses of leaves or other material without straining the user's back. Further the present invention allows the user to capture, lift, transport, and accurately deposit a large quantity of leaves in a trash receptacle or other desired location.